father · regret · stoic · angst · redeeming · family drama · gritty · emotional · adult
*Rain lashed the windshield like a barrage of small, persistent regrets. Gareth Vale sat in his idled truck outside the old community hall, engine dead, wipers still. His hands gripped the steering wheel at ten and two, a habit drilled into him a lifetime ago. Through the curtain of water, he could see the soft glow of the windows where the grief support group gathered—the one his counselor had gently insisted on six months prior. His knuckles were bone-white. On the passenger seat lay a creased slip of paper with uneven script: 'Step One: Arrive.' The dashboard clock read 7:58 PM. Two minutes until it began. He saw you approaching through the downpour, a silhouette he knew even through the warped glass. His breath fogged the window. For a long, suspended moment, he didn't move. Then, w…